Frank m



(No Model.)

'F. M. CONVERSE. HOOK.

, No. 564,326. Patentd July 21, 1896.

WITNESSES: WENTUR:

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' ATT RN Y UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK M. CONVERSE, OF NEYV YORK, N. Y.

HOOK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 564,326, dated July 21, 1896. Application filed January 17, 1896. Serial No. 575,829. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, FRANK M. CONVERSE,

a citizen of the United-States, and a resident of New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented a certain new and useful Improved Hook, of which the following is a specification;

My invention relates to hooks, and particularly to those used on wearing-apparelgarments, shoes, gloves, corsets, 850.

My hook is also applicable as a securing device or clasp for pocket-books, sample envelops and bags, and for various like uses.

The main object of the invention is the production of a hook which will not come unhooked without assistance, but which can be readily unhooked when desired, and while hooked will hold the eye with considerable firmness.

Another object is the production of ahook which requires but a short range of movement to unhook it.

With these objects in view my invention consists in the construction and formation of parts hereinafter fully set forth and claimed.

The accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification, are executed on an enlarged scale, and therein- Figure 1 represents in perspective my improved hook in cooperation with an ordinary eye. Fig. 2 represents the hook in plan. Fig. 3 is a side view thereof. Fig. 4 represents the hook in its application asa clasp. Fig. 5 represents a well-known hook now in common use.

The hook is preferably constructed of wire and of a single piece of spring-brass wire. This piece has a securing-bend A, formed at one end, from which it extends straightaway, forming one side, as B, of the shank, curved back upon itself laterally, forming the looped end 0, extends rearwardly, forming the other side D of the shank, then forms laterally the other securing-bend E, whence it extends along between the sides of the shank, forming a tongue F. The looped end 0 is curved over and bent downwardly till within a distance from the shank only slightly greater thanthe thickness of the material of which the eye, as G, is formed. The tongue F is also bent up at its end, as illustrated, and, in po-.

sition of disuse, extends across the hookopening from the extremity of the looped end 0 to a point between the sides of said loop. Its straight portion lies between the sides of the shank, which latter, being rigid, readily guide the inserted eye into the hook.

On engaging the hook with an eye, loop, or bar, which by preference should be cylindrical, the tongue F is depressed into the dotted position Fig. 3, the eye resting as indicated by the dotted circle as. The tongue therefore presses the eye against the bend of the hook and holds it in place with sufficient firmness to prevent its becoming tangled up with or kinked in the hook, as is frequently the case with the ordinary garment hook and eye. The outlet between the tongue and the end of loop 0 being narrower than the thickness of the eye or bar, it follows that considerable pressure must be exerted upon the eye before it can be unhooked. This required unhooking pressure is such that it precludes the possibility of accidental unhooking.

One of the greatest advantages inherent in the hook constructed as illustrated is that of the slight movement of the hook or' the eye required to disengagethem. The eye requires to be moved a distance scarcely more than double that of the thickness thereof and need not be moved out of the plane of the position of rest. This renders it possible to use my hook upon very tight wearing-apparel, as upon corsets, gloves, and shoes.

The hooks now on the market have the recurved end I, Fig. 5, extended so far along the shank that to release an eye therefrom it must be moved more than the distance across the opening in the eye, and therefore the hook or eye has to be turned from the plane of the position of rest before it can be freed from the hook. Then to hold the eye in that position while forcing it beyond an obstruction, as the hump H, is a difficult matter, particularly on tight garments, and renders the application to corsets, gloves, and shoes practically impossible, as sufficient slack cannot be gained in these articles to enable the eye to be carried from under the point I.

In adapting my hook to gloves, shoes, or pocket-books a bar, as G, may be substituted for the eye and secured to the article by a ring and eyelet or in any of the Well-known ways.

The hook, too, may be provided With securing means other than the bends or loops A. The tongue F being bent up near the loop 0 an easy insertion of the eye is provided, since the tip of the recurved loop or bill G is free to assist the shank in guiding the eye into the hook-opening, and the tongue, on account of its upward bend, is en bled to firmly engage the eye between it and the bill C, so that to insert the eye it is simply necessary to drop it over the end of the bill and pull it immediately to place by a straight pull, no down tongue resting against the end of the bill.

What I claim as my invention is-- 1. A garment-hook having a short downwardly-bent recurved portion and provided with a spring-tongue adapted to rest against the inserted eye and press it firmly against the recurved portion of the hook, substan tially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. The herein-described hook having the side portions B and D, spaced apart and terminating in the short, recurved and downwardly-bent, looped end or bill G, and having a spring-tongue F, located between said sides, allowing the rigid shank to guide the eye, and having its free end bent upwardly to extend obliquely across the hook-opening in position to firmly press the inserted eye against the bill, said bend occurring at such a point in the tongue, with relation to the tip of the bill, as to allow said tip to cooperate with the shank to guide the eye into the hook-opening, substantially as set forth.

Signed at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, this 15th day of January, A. D. 1896.

FRANK M. CONVERSE. \Vitnesses M. H. CAPEL, DELBER'J. II. DECKER. 

